You can see eight, 120 metres tall cooling towers at the nuclear power plant in Jaslovské Bohunice for the last time this weekend. Dismantling of the first of four shutdown towers starts on Monday.

Towers of the V1 nuclear power plant were one of the features typical for the surroundings of Jaslovské Bohunice for 40 years. It was in 1977, when they were put into operation. Gradual demolition of four cooling towers is an inseparable part of the V1 NPP decommissioning process.
The main objective is dismantling and demolition of cooling towers of the V1 nuclear power plant with subsequent disposal of waste produced, while these activities should be performed in the most effective and economical manner within the complex process of decommissioning of the V1 nuclear power plant in Jaslovské Bohunice under the supervision of the regulatory authorities, the European Commission and the EBRD.
Demolition of the V1 NPP cooling towers shall be performed using the conventional method of dismantling, i.e. gradual dismantlement of towers. Explosives could not have been used for the safety reasons due to the close distance of neighbouring power plant V2 under operation. Planned date of completion of the project of demolition of four cooling towers is the end of 2018.
This project is being implemented by the Consortium, the leader of which is an Italian company DESPE S.p.A. This company has 40 years of experience in the area of demolitions as well as decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

Costs for the project amounting to 9 million Euros are co-financed from the BIDSF administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Tenderer, who came as second, offered a price, which was 6.5 million Euros higher.
The area to be established after the demolition of the cooling towers will be intended for further industrial use.
Shutdown of both units of the V1 nuclear power plant was a commitment of the Slovak Republic resulting from the pre-accession negotiations on access of the Slovak Republic to the EU and commenced in 2006 or 2008, respectively on the basis of the resolution of the Slovak government No. 801/1999 of the 14th of September 1999.

Interesting facts:

• Each tower is 120 metres tall
• Diameter of the base is 84.4 metres
• Tower walls are of monolithic reinforced concrete 15 to 60 cm thick
• There are 52 leaning props along the perimeter; these create openings for the air flow
• Towers were erected in the 70´s one by one, not all at the same time

Miriam Žiaková 
Spokesperson